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Takehisa Tanaka Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Question About "It wasn't ~ so much."
Hi,
I have a trouble understanding a sentence.
Could you please help me?
My textbook has the following sentences:
When Brian went out to the street, there was a road crew at the opposite side. He noticed that one of them rode a rock drill steadily. It wasn't so much that the man worked harder or faster than the rest, it was that he didn't stop.
My trouble is:
In third sentence, what was so much?
Can I rewrite the third sentence as follows?
[That the man worked harder or faster than the rest] wasn't so much, [That he didn't stop] was so much.
Thanks in advance.
I have a trouble understanding a sentence.
Could you please help me?
My textbook has the following sentences:
When Brian went out to the street, there was a road crew at the opposite side. He noticed that one of them rode a rock drill steadily. It wasn't so much that the man worked harder or faster than the rest, it was that he didn't stop.
My trouble is:
In third sentence, what was so much?
Can I rewrite the third sentence as follows?
[That the man worked harder or faster than the rest] wasn't so much, [That he didn't stop] was so much.
Thanks in advance.
Top answer
No. " is a formula. The "it"s are placeholders for "the remarkable thing".
- No.
- " is a formula.
- The "it"s are placeholders for "the remarkable thing".
- "
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2 Answers
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No. "It wasn't so much that ..., it was ..." is a formula. The "it"s are placeholders for "the remarkable thing". I would render it "The more remarkable thing was not that the man worked hard, although that was indeed somewhat remarkable; the more remarkable thing was that he didn't stop."
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